There Will Be Blood
by turquoise fountain
Summary: Set overlapping final minutes of the season 1 finale and onwards. Mostly follows Damon.


**There Will Be Blood**

Damon wasn't the naive 21 year old that Katherine had known more than a hundred years ago. It hadn't taken him long to join the dots and realise he wasn't talking to Elena. The first clue was the way that Katherine's mouth was cruelly turned down in the corners; lacking the determined smile that Elena usually wore on her face. Despite the hell that she had been through in the past year, she somehow managed to remain optimistic and kind. His suspicions had been confirmed when he kissed her. Damon was positive that Elena would have resisted... she was annoyingly devoted to Stefan; he knew that she wouldn't be won over quite so easily. What's more, Katherine's attitude towards Jenna was all wrong. No matter what, Damon couldn't see Elena ever speaking to her aunt in that way, or giving her that look of hatred. Damon was annoyed at himself for being duped by Katherine's ruse as long as he had been. What a waste of a perfectly good soppy speech. "I don't think I would ever be able to recreate that sickly sweet sop without puking", he muttered sarcastically to himself.

Hearing somebody approaching along the sidewalk, Damon skilfully climbed up a tall tree alongside the Gilbert house and gracefully leapt from the highest branch, landing soundlessly on the roof in a catlike crouch. Creeping to the skylight located above the kitchen, Damon peered down and was confronted by a scene of Katherine ending the life of John Gilbert. Good, he thought... not only had John attempted to kill Damon earlier that night, but he had staked his friend, Anna, as he looked on in horror. He was so consumed by his sentiments of good riddance, that he didn't hear Elena mount the porch and enter the house. As he continued to stare at Katherine through the skylight, he saw her suddenly cock her head to the side... she heard someone coming.

Katherine hastily lunged out of the window, grasping the gutter so that she swung up onto the roof. She was startled to find herself crouched at Damon's feet.

"Well done, you figured out my true identity, happy to see me?" Katherine chuckled cruelly.

"You have come too late to get a warm welcome. Come back... let's see... a couple of months ago, and you may have received the expected reception", said Damon in his usual sarcastic manner.

"There is only one reason I returned to this backwater small town... revenge", spat Katherine. "If it weren't for your love for Elena and that pitiful soppy speech you just gave me, then maybe I would have spared you. Now I will have to punish you along with your brother for replacing me and giving vampires a good name. I have been watching you Damon. I was actually impressed by your devotion, looking for me all this time. Then you went and spoiled it all by doing something stupid like falling for Elena. You will be pleased to know that she is first on my list."

Damon heard the kitchen door open and glanced down into the skylight to hear Elena scream upon discovering John's corpse. This had distracted him long enough for Katherine to make her move. He saw Katherine leap through the still open window and grab Elena, who gave a blood curdling scream. In a split second, Katherine returned to the roof by the same method as before, this time roughly holding Elena by the forearm.

"Damon!" cried Elena as tears ran down her face. She looked so vulnerable, so shocked and confused that it nearly brought Damon to tears.

"Please let her go Katherine... I will do whatever you want, please don't hurt her!" pleaded Damon in a trembling voice. Although Elena seemed like a carbon copy of Katherine, Damon already knew that the resemblance ended there. Seeing the two side by side, he saw for the first time that even physically they were different. How could he have ever compared Elena – kind, beautiful Elena, with this monster. Time had only hardened Katherine's cruel face. As much as Damon hated himself for sounding like Stefan, he saw a different Katherine to the one he had known in 1864, a Katherine that lacked any trace of humanity... just a cruel monster. Just like he himself had been when he came to Mystic Falls.

Katherine's eyes darkened and her canine teeth became long and sharp as she grasped Elena's hair and manoeuvred her so that the soft flesh of her neck was exposed. Damon hissed and lunged at her. He knew that Katherine was both older and stronger than him, and so fighting her would be suicide. As chivalrous as it was to sacrifice oneself for their one true love, he wouldn't be much good as Elena's protector if he was dead. He would have to choose the path of the shield, rather than his usual sword.

Damon lunged at Elena, rather than Katherine, enfolding her in his arms as they were sent flying off the roof. Despite his sarcasm, he was telling the truth when he had told Stefan earlier that day that Katherine was out of the picture. All he cared about now was Elena. They landed on the ground, Elena protected from the full force of the impact by Damon. Before Elena had time to gather her thoughts, Damon was carrying her, running at a neck breaking speed, Katherine in pursuit.

"Don't look back", commanded Damon in a forceful tone. The last thing he wanted was Elena frightened and squirming in his arms. He still had to figure out where he should take Elena. He could take her to the Salvatore boarding house, but Katherine was more than powerful enough to defeat both him and Stefan. He hated the other option... but he would do it for Elena.

Upon their arrival at Bonnie's house, Damon banged incessantly upon the door – "Bonnie! I know you are in there! For Elena's sake, hurry!" Cried Damon. He hated sounding so vulnerable, but it was what he had to do to protect Elena. As soon as Bonnie opened the door, Damon thrust Elena inside.

"I know you don't feel comfortable with this, but you have to invite me in! I will explain later!" Damon said hurriedly. Bonnie pursed her lips. Before she could say anything, Katherine mounted the porch, stopping to flash Bonnie a sly grin. Shock, then understanding flashed across Bonnie's face.

"Quick! Come in, Damon!" Shouted Bonnie. She made sure she directed the invitation specifically at Damon, so that it didn't also apply to Katherine. As Damon began to step over the threshold, Katherine lunged and grabbed Damon's ankle, causing him to fall. He winced in pain as he wriggled free, her unusually sharp fingernails leaving five deep gauges in his ankle, where blood was welling. Bonnie and Elena pulled the rest of his body over the threshold. Damon sat up and pushed the door closed. Even though Katherine couldn't enter, it would probably make the girls feel safer to have it closed and locked. He soaked up the blood from the now healed wounds on his leg using the tissues that Elena gave him.

For now, they were safe. Damon kept getting paranoid visions of Katherine lurking in the shadows nearby - waiting for their departure, or finding Stefan and disposing of him. He had to call his little brother and warn him.

He dug his phone out of his pocket and dialled the familiar number. Stefan answered on the first ring. Before Stefan could say anything, Damon said almost too quickly to comprehend "Stefan, get Alaric and come to Bonnie's house, no time to explain, bring vervain, Katherine!"

"What!" exclaimed Stefan in a confused tone, but the line had gone dead. He knew what he had to do.

A/N: This is my first fic, so it is a bit rough. I may or may not write another chapter, depending upon the response to this one. If I do, it would probably be Stefan's POV.


End file.
